Disclaimer: Please see the usual statements in Chapter 1.
Author's note: For those who are still reading, thanks! And Happy ThanksGiving!!
The things I do…
Chapter XII
By Callisto
Jarod's Lair
Green Lake, WI
Several days had passed since the return of Jarod, Parker and her brothers. Their initial reception was warm and loving--for Jarod and Ethan. The twins received a more measured welcome, the Major grinned broadly at Parker, Emil greeted her happily and towards Alex, he was cautiously friendly. Though their initial reception was more than she expected, the following days proved to be more of a challenge. Margaret had some difficulty adjusting to the idea that her son and Parker were lovers.
By the middle of the first week of their return Jarod's mother stopped by his room unexpectedly. It was unexpected because of the inner tumultuous conundrum Margaret was undergoing. She was grateful for what Parker had done for her and her family but couldn't help quell the suspicions that crept in her mind about the younger woman's motives. As a result, she tended to avoid Parker whenever possible. At first she knocked on the partially opened bedroom door, when there was no response, she cautiously entered, looked around and found the room empty. She was on the brink of leaving when she heard footsteps behind her. Abruptly, Parker appeared on the opposite side of the room and found herself face to face with Jarod's mother. Having just had her way with Jarod in their bathroom, Parker stepped out to finish dressing while he lounged happily in the tub. She was still wet from the bath and was now wearing a white tank top and khaki shorts. Her dark hair was longer than usual and her Centre inspired thinness was only partially hidden by the almost baggy clothing but still somehow managed to make her look glamorously chic. The women faced each other silently and stared.
"Miss Parker," Margaret said softly unable to conceal the reproachful note in her voice.
Parker was about to advance several more steps when the bathroom door opened suddenly. "Hey, what are you doing with clothes on?" a pleasantly, baritone voice asked with the same gentle reproachful note as his mother. Without looking around, Parker snatched the towel from around her neck and tossed it with great accuracy at Jarod, who remained just barely out of sight inside the doorway. Margaret's eyes caught her son's widened gaze as he peered sheepishly past the doorway at his mother while wrapping Parker's towel around his naked midsection and returned to the bathroom.
When the door closed behind Jarod, Margaret smiled fondly at her eldest child's embarrassment, then she looked at Parker who walked around her to the bed. Staring after the younger woman, Margaret suddenly felt haunted by the ghost of her long dead friend. Only that ghost would never have slept with her best friend's son and the thought of her friend's daughter doing so, did little to mitigate her uneasiness towards the situation. Taking a deep breath, Margaret turned to Parker and said quietly, "I would like to thank you on behalf of my entire family for your part in reuniting us."
Parker could feel Margaret's torn emotions and reaching for a paperback book she had been reading since her return, she straightened and walked past the older woman saying, "there's no need to strain yourself, I did it for someone in particular, not you." Her statement was made with quiet firmness, her tone devoid of any rancor or sarcasm.
Margaret digested this response for a few moments, then turned and followed Parker out of the bedroom and through the hall. "You did this for my son for which I am doubly grateful. Your mother would have been very proud of you."
Parker's teeth ground at the mention of her mother. Margaret had supplied only a few details about her relationship with Catherine and it had been obvious from the start that Parker had hit yet another human dead end when she easily surmised that Margaret wouldn't share any more than the skimpy morsels she had already divulged which was practically nothing. Jarod had plead with his mother to be more explicit but she refused to budge. Now throwing out this tidbit almost irked Parker into striking back verbally. Stopping in her tracks, she took several deep breaths, then resumed her path down the hall and towards the kitchen, ignoring Jarod's mother completely.
Margaret had heard the stories about Parker's relationship with Jarod but knew little of the younger woman's life after the death of her mother. She had even viewed most of the DSA's that featured Parker in Jarod's stolen Centre archive files, however there wasn't much to go on to explain the younger woman's behavior and loyalties. Margaret saw Parker pause at the reference to her mother and let the slight go without comment. At this point, Margaret couldn't conceive any inducement that would convince her to trust Parker enough to tell her about the friendship she shared with Catherine. Besides the secrets she harbored were meant to be kept. She had voluntarily promised Catherine and the lives of both Parker and Jarod depended on their continued ignorance. Needling Parker was her way of seeing past the icy exterior the younger woman presented to the world but Parker refused to let her guard down for even a second. Giving Parker a calculated look, she decided another dig just might make her explode and give Margaret a peek at the real woman inside, the one who snake-charmed her eldest son into loving her so devotedly. She had been told that Parker shared her mother's gift. Catherine's use of her inner sense still bewildered Margaret but her complete trust in her dead friend made her watchful for any of the signs she had been given to search for. Before she could begin, Parker responded to the first part of Margaret's dig, silencing the older woman.
"Actually, I did it for a beautiful little boy I fell in love with when I was 12. I promised myself that if I was ever able to help him find his mother than I would do everything in my power to make it happen."
Margaret watched Parker's face which was stoic while she poured herself a glass of juice. There was a resoluteness in her expression which made it seem as though she had come to a decision. Though she was curious, Margaret let it go, confident that she would see the results of it soon.
Jarod joined them soon after this short tête-à-tête and poured a glass of juice for himself. His entrance was followed closely by that of his father and Emily from the back yard, and Emil bounding down from the stairs. Alex and Ethan were already in the living room and had heard Parker's explanation to Margaret. Glancing at the closed expression on his lover's face, Jarod knew she had another run in with his mother. Understanding Parker and finally being supplied the answers to Alex's taunting questions from almost two years ago, Jarod knew he had to bring this tense situation to a head and present his family with some home truths none of them was expecting to face. Having simmed this particular situation while they were in Pittsburgh, he already had a feel of the probable outcome. Patient like a cat, Jarod waited until Parker turned to leave the room and catching her around the waist he pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed her fully on the mouth. Gone was the usual eager and tantalizingly drawn out response he was used to receiving. She had made it clear that there would be no public displays of affection or PDA's as she put it, in front of his family. He had listened to her declaration on the way down to the rental car in the hotel garage and accepted it grudgingly. He had grown used to kissing, holding and touching her without much restriction. This draconian rule was more than he was willing to stand for much longer anyway.
Parker pushed away from him, shooting him a baleful glance. He stared back with a determination that gave her pause and him enough leeway to kiss her again before releasing her. The look on his face was playful and loving, causing her to relax suddenly and stare sternly at him.
"Did you ever wonder where the Centre came up with the Control portion of the Jongewaard protocol?"
Frowning at his sudden change in subject, Parker's expression changed mercurially into that of irritated confusion. "Not really. I figured it was a patch they discovered was needed through trial and error. Or some genius told them it was necessary," she answered pointedly.
"Neither, it was something they came up with on their own. Sydney and his twin brother thought up the idea, wrote a sub-protocol and profile. It was quite ingenious in its own right. From what I understand, the Centre is still receiving residuals from a few internet sites that use the basic profile they created."
"Wow," she responded with mild sarcasm, giving Jarod a look that told him she thought he was going off on a bizarre tangent. Parker again pushed away from his arms and would have left the kitchen but Jarod held her arm with gentle firmness.
Never taking his eyes off his lover for a second, Jarod addressed his entire family, briefly explaining what the Jongewaard protocol was and how it had been modified for pretenders. Everyone, save Catherine Parker's children, listened with horror and saddened disgust. Alex smiled slightly, knowing exactly where Jarod was going with this scenario and silently approved of his extremely clever method--his execution was practically flawless.
"Now, Sydney, you met him Dad, remember?" At the Major's affirmative nod, Jarod continued, "He figured that a protocol of this scope would need to have a Control feature. Another person who would be able to stabilize the target, keeping him or her content, rooted and focused. Someone the target or pretender would trust unconditionally, could confide in, even love. The other person would be called a Control because that was precisely what they were doing, controlling the pretender's moods and directing his desires." Jarod noted the bored but wary look on Parker's face, she already knew this but was wondering where Jarod was going with his story.
"Of course any new feature to a protocol would have to be tested for its effectiveness, in short, to make sure it actually did what it was designed to do." Jarod stared into Parker's eyes, then changed his voice so it was deep and soft like a silky caress, "we are the prototype."
Parker's eyes narrowed with disbelief as she stared mutely into Jarod's face. Her brow furrowed with concentration as she compared his conclusion with her memory. The shock slackened expression on her face told the others she remembered the details and could see Jarod's logic.
"The sexual attraction experiment when we were introduced," she replied quietly.
"Sydney had me formulate the necessary categories they used to plug in the psychological and personality profiles. He used an early version of a computer database and loaded in details he knew of my personality, then loaded the profiles of other children in and around the Centre complex. The program I designed worked better than they anticipated, it spat out a name almost immediately."
"Mine. Dr Phil and Dr. Ruth got together and made an early version of Cupid.org then used the results," she said with sickened anger. Yet another revelation of how both she and Jarod had been used.
"Then why didn't they continue using it? If what you're saying is true, then using Miss Parker as an emotional tie to keep you at the Centre would have worked. Why didn't they?" Emil asked curiously.
Alex, now sporting a full, cynical grin asked the more relevant question, "Something always goes wrong with prototypes, do you know where the miscalculation is here?"
"We were too young. The current protocol calls for the subject to be introduced to his Control once he is in his early twenties and after his first sexual experience," Parker replied quietly, holding onto one of Jarod's arms for support. "They watched us every second we were together. My God, my mother had to be in on this as well."
"Not necessarily. They probably told her what they told us, that it was a sexual attraction experiment. I was even encased in a plastic room so there would be no physical contact. You're partially right, we were too young but they were initially interested in our interaction to see if their calculations actually worked, if we would really be attracted to each other and if so, would our relationship evolve in the prescribed way."
"I'm your Control? Oh brother, that's a laugh. They must have been disappointed when we turned out to be only friends," she replied bitterly, having no difficulty in accepting Jarod's version of what her mother was probably told.
"No, they weren't. Everything was going according to schedule when they realized they had forgotten something," Jarod replied quietly, carefully watching Parker's face. He was providing this explanation to his family but also for her benefit so she would stop thinking of leaving him.
The room was silent for several seconds, Parker then covered her mouth and muttered softly, "Puberty. They forgot we both were probably going through it at the same time. The last thing they would want is for you to lose precious time by being horny."
Smiling rakishly, Jarod looked in her eyes and shook his head. Staring into her face, while holding one of her hands he replied, "They didn't count on the protocol working on both of us. Sure, it controlled me, you made sure of that but it controlled you as well." Jarod leaned forward, rubbed his nose against hers, then brushed his cheek against hers in the same manner as he had done over 25 years earlier. A large smile broke brilliantly across Parker's face as she rubbed her cheek against his, placed her forehead on the top of his shoulder and embraced him.
With a small chuckle, she raised her head and looking into his eyes said, "You spoiled me rotten, Genius."
"Your father hated the loss of control. He wanted you securely under his thumb and didn't want you to start ignoring him in favor of me, which was what had started to happen according to Sydney. He craved your loyalty because he knew it was a source of power for him. To have an unacknowledged pretender doing his bidding and making things work his way was the epitome of control. So he twisted the other elements of the protocol and took you away. You were the earliest prototype of the protocol being used on a pretender. Sydney was appalled by Mr. Parker's success, he had hoped that your mother's early teachings would have kept you from falling in the trap but you had no support, you were all alone. I promise you'll never be alone again," Jarod said with the utmost sincerity. Deliberately, he leaned forward and kissed her again. This time he received the response that had been lacking the first time. When he could speak again, he looked into her eyes again and said, "You know what I want."
Parker closed her eyes for a few moments and nodded slowly. Jarod was about to speak again when she placed her hand gently on his soft lips. Looking at him, she effectively shut out the fact they were surrounded by his family. "I'm not ready. You now know some of the things that were done to me. Everyone I've ever loved has died, I don't know what I would do if my Control died on me too."
"Hey, it doesn't work that way. You're the Control, I'm the target," he replied softly, attempting to deflect her morbid observation.
"We're prototypes, nothing's a certainty with us. If our past is anything to go by, we're each other's Control," she said.
"So that's what she meant! All these years, I've been searching, trying to figure out what she was talking about and this is it," Margaret stated out loud, staring at her son and soon to be daughter-in-law. "Catherine told me that they would do something to her daughter and the voices told her there was nothing she could do to stop it. Mr. Parker posed as your father and refused to let you out of his sight. That's why it was near impossible to get you away from there. Catherine wanted you to be the first child rescued, of course it was a natural reaction," Margaret said in a rush as she exhaled heavily. "That bastard had you watched every second of the day, while maintaining his distance. He was putting himself in the position to become your mentor. My God, if he weren't already dead, I would find him and put a bullet in his head. Not just for the murder of my friend but for the havoc he wrecked in her children's lives." Margaret said this as she paced across the breakfast bar area.
"Mom, there wasn't any way for you to know what was going on. Beating yourself up now is useless," Emily said soothingly to her mother.
"No. I was continuing it, after I promised so faithfully," she murmured so mournfully. Turning abruptly to Parker she straightened her already straight posture more and looking into Parker's mildly puzzled eyes said, "I apologize for my terrible behavior. I thought your being here was another trick. I convinced myself that I could dig through the surface façade and find the Centre lurking underneath your mask.
Parker remained securely within one of Jarod's arms as she stared curiously at Margaret and her sudden outburst. Noticing the relieved satisfaction in Jarod's eyes told her this was the result he had wanted. Involuntarily her eyes slid over to her twin and narrowed thoughtfully. He stared back and realized what she was about to do. Before he could say something to break Margaret's mood, Parker asked in a shaky voice, "Do you know who my father is?"
Margaret, still appalled that she hadn't put together the pieces earlier and horrified by her earlier behavior to Parker, nodded distractedly. Being Jarod's mother, made her almost equally fast in putting together any puzzle even if she were blind to where all the pieces were lying. Therefore glancing into the information-hungry look in Parker's eyes, Margaret was gratified to be able to answer at least this question for the younger woman.
"Morwen, all I know is that your father's name is Jacob. Catherine never said his last name and seemed nervous for even entrusting me with this small bit of information. I truly hope that helps…" her voice trailed off at the shocked and whitened complexion of Parker's face.
"What's wrong?" Major Charles asked.
"He watched me talking to him, trying to get him to tell me what he remembered of my mother and said nothing. I watched my father die and Sydney remained silent, he never said a word," Parker said in a trembling voice. She looked in Jarod's face and saw a similar shocked expression. Finally trusting her instincts where they concerned him, she knew he had been as much in the dark as she. Breaking away from his arm she walked purposely towards her twin and stared angrily at him.
"You knew, didn't you? Don't bother lying to me, I could tell you knew after we risked our lives saving you. We joined you in this insane crusade against the Centre and still you didn't say anything. Why?"
Alex looked up and gave his twin a rueful smile. "It wasn't my place to tell you. I knew you were growing closer with our Uncle. With Parker dead the temptation to tell you would overwhelm him. It almost did but Jarod decided to act on his emotions and lure you away from the Centre before Sydney could sign his death warrant. Raines would have killed the good doctor the second he found out. You see Jarod is right in what he told everyone about the protocol. Sydney didn't put all the pieces together until you were sent away to complete your Classical education. The poor old coot had to somehow maintain his distance from you, so he tried to bury all his paternal feelings in Jarod and Nicholas when you were the one standing right next to him. Must have drove the poor guy nuts but he deserved it cause he never told you about our mother not dying in that elevator. If he had, then you would have started looking for the truth sooner and turned on that emotional vampire you used to call a father."
Parker blinked at the venom in Alex's words. Distant voices in her mind were trying to speak to her again, but her twin started speaking again, partially drowning out their message.
"I found out about you, our mother, that murdering bastard Raines, his lying, greedy, short-sighted brother Mr. Parker and our little brother while I was interred at the Triumvirate. I had finished a particularly nasty sim when I got hurt. During my recovery and re-education, a Triumvirate lackey name Klouchi was vying for power and needed me to go over the edge so he whispered into my bandaged head what he knew of my family. I went over the edge but not the way he had planned. By the time I finished convalescing I had made my plans for some revenge. The 30 foot fall into the bay, helped me to remember things I had been conditioned to forget. I recalled when I had first heard of the Jongewaard protocol and how my recommendations were used against other pretenders. That's when I decided to refocus my attentions towards those who used me and destroyed my chances of forging a relationship with those who should have been closest to me. So don't imagine that I'm not finished with them by a long shot. If you and lover-boy want out then so be it by me, sister." Alex rose smoothly then exited the room leaving his uncompromising anger in an invisible cloud behind him.